In an Internet of Things (IoT) network, a variety of electronic and computing devices are interconnected and enabled to communicate with one another. A large number of such devices implemented using IoT network are designed to operate remotely and/or autonomously, without direct human intervention. The advancement in the field of IoT has tremendously increased rate of exchange of data between various devices, thereby making security of IoT network an important concern. The security can be related to preventing unauthorized access that may inject viruses, worms and other malicious data into the IoT network.
The security problem associated with IoT network embedded using the Internet is very challenging. A loosely connected network of IoT devices comprising server, mobile platform, and remote sensor is usually bereft of an enterprise level firewall protection and thus, is prone to malicious attacks. Further, a simple low-cost computing device such as a sensor or an actuator cannot handle sophisticated communication protocols offering data transmission safeguards that are implemented in more sophisticated computer network. Also, remote unattended devices are subjected to phishing, physical attack to disable or replace, or hacking.
Furthermore, in an IoT network, data is distributed among various devices and no single entity has complete representation of whereabouts of all the data. As IoT network expands, the data grows exponentially. The data can be divided into plurality of data subsets that are stored in various devices that are geographically dispersed. The plurality of data subsets may be constantly created (such as by IoT sensors), annihilated, merged and divided or can be moved around using the Internet or other connective networks.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide effective and more secure techniques of communication along with data security among various devices implemented in an IoT network.